PhD position available in Human-Computer Interaction, Product Design, Interaction Design: “Meaningful Metadata: The things I wish I knew”

Wendy Moncur, Siân Lindley and myself (Elise Van Den Hoven) are looking for a great PhD student to work for us on a Microsoft-funded PhD, starting early 2017. Application deadline is 14 November 2016, please spread the word.

About This PhD Project

Project Description

Applications are invited for a fully funded PhD scholarship at the University of Dundee, within Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, supported by a prestigious Microsoft Research PhD Scholarship, and in collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney.
You will have a background in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Product Design, Interaction Design, or a related area. You will join a growing interdisciplinary research group with backgrounds in HCI, Computing, Design, Psychology and the Arts, with a strong international research track record. You will be supervised by: Dr Wendy Moncur, University of Dundee; Professor Elise van den Hoven, University of Technology Sydney, Australia; and Dr Siân Lindley of Microsoft Research UK.Project:
You will focus on the diverse digital materials that are generated around a significant life transition across four strands – ‘personal’, ’social’, ‘organisational’, and ‘environmental’/ Internet of Things (IoT). These digital materials are usually scattered across multiple physical storage sites (e.g. laptop, cloud storage, mobile phone, server) and multiple sets of files. (Example: A life transition of emigration to a new country may generate digital materials that include electronic flight tickets, posts to friends on social media, and communications with government departments.)You will explore how these digital materials and their associated metadata can be exploited in novel ways, both for functional purposes creating long-term utility, and to create new experiences that enable creative, evocative, and contextual uses of personal data – for example, by developing rich personal narratives from the data.As a Microsoft Scholar:
You will be invited to Microsoft Research in Cambridge during the course of your PhD, for a PhD Summer School that includes a series of talks of academic interest and poster sessions, which provides the Scholars the opportunity to present their work to Microsoft researchers and a number of Cambridge academics.You should have a first class degree or good 2:1 and/or a Masters or equivalent experience in Human-Computer Interaction, Product Design, Interaction Design or a related area. Good spoken and written English is essential. The ability to employ a range of fieldwork techniques to inform the design of novel interfaces is desired. The ability to develop functional digital prototypes is essential.
Following interview, you will also need to apply and meet the University of Dundee’s entry requirements for PhD study.

The award is open to all nationalities, although funding for fees will only be paid at the rate charged to UK/ EU nationals. You will be required to meet the University of Dundee’s English Language requirements and will be asked to provide a copy of the certificate.
There is a stipend of £14,296 per annum for 36 months (full time), increasing annually in line with RCUK guidance (http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/skills/training/). In addition, you will receive a fixed hardware allowance and conference allowance.

Some of the Scholars may also be offered—at the sole discretion of Microsoft Research—an internship in one of the Microsoft Research laboratories. Internships involve working on a project alongside and as part of a team of Microsoft researchers. Scholars are paid during their internship—in addition to their scholarship bursary. Interested Scholars can apply through the Microsoft Research careers page.

Funding Notes

Applicants should submit a CV and a two-page statement describing their interest in pursuing a PhD and their experience as it relates to the topic in the first instance to Fiona Fyffe-Lawson, Administrator for Research, DJCAD – f.j.fyffelawson@dundee.ac.uk
Informal enquiries can be directed to Dr Wendy Moncur – w.moncur@dundee.ac.uk

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About us

Materialising Memories is a research programme that aims to design for improved reliving of personal memories. We study how personal media, such as photos, are used in everyday situations to remember and forget and what desired reliving of memories could be. The aim is to develop innovative media products that support remembering and forgetting by using smaller numbers of more suitable media.